A Gamer’s Thoughts: May I Cheat, Daddy?

Not in online games, but sometimes in offline games. And, I only do it when I have beaten the game before.

But, I started to think, what effect does cheating have on the gaming industry? Let’s look at cheating in video games, shall we? Before I give you my thoughts, I’d love you to write your own opinions on the content of the article in the comment section down below.

Cheating in online play

In my first matches on Halo online, I was dying left and right. People called me names but I honestly didn’t mind. After a few rounds, I became a somewhat valuable asset to the team. After a week or two, I learned a lot about how I play, what my strong suits are and what my weak points are.

I learned that my playstyle isn’t good enough to play online in most games. The only game I play online from time to time is Minecraft. The reason for that is that I’m more of a casual player than a competitive player.

Let me get one thing clear. If there is one thing about cheating I don’t support, it’s cheating in an online game. I remember quite well how I lost a Minecraft Hunger Games match due to a hacker. I saw him flying around and coming down on me. When I started to hit him, he seemed to not take any damage. But, he was able to kill me and win the game.

In the past, I have played on Halo servers where cheating was enabled. But, in a way, that isn’t cheating anymore in my eyes. Since, if everybody has the same game mechanics, even when they are acquired by using a cheat; it becomes fair.

Using a cheat tool like for example an aimbot online, I think you aren’t proving anything. I’m sorry but the “git gut” meme of Dark Souls applies here.

I was tempted once or twice to use a cheat tool to win a match in Halo. But, then I realized that I would annoy other players and ruin the game for all the players who play legit. Besides, if I’d lost with those cheats enabled; I would have been the laughing stock of the server.

Once, I quit a Minecraft server because I was tired of all the people hacking the game and abusing the hacked clients to cheat their way to have end game items in a matter of seconds.

Cheating in online games can have big consequences. Just think back at the apology videos of H1Z1 of the banned cheaters.

One thing that annoys me the most is when people use cheats to gift other people their creations in games like Minecraft. At no point, I personally think this is funny. It just makes people angry and possibly quit the game. The argument of “it’s just a prank”, isn’t a valid one in my eyes.

One of the best pranks pulled on me was changing all the ice cubes I farmed into water buckets because the sun that shines on the chest where I stored it at, melted all the ice. They buried the ice cubes in a chest, of course, two blocks under the chest with water buckets. I miss playing on the Minecraft server.

I should admit that I cheated online once. But, I had a legitimate reason for this. One time, me and a good friend were playing a round of Europa Universalis IV. Due to a connection drop, I picked the wrong decision and my heir and king died. Because we both didn’t want our country to become a subject of his, we decided that I’d cheat and give myself a king and hope that he created a new heir. Keep in mind, we were the two only people playing on that server and we both agreed that it was a good idea to cheat. So, in my opinion, if it’s to help somebody who had a major stroke of bad luck and everybody agrees, it’s fine.

But, I’m not going to ramble on about cheats in online play anymore. I don’t play online too often.

Cheats in offline play

If you ask me if I have ever cheated in an offline game, I’d say yes.

So, why did I cheat?

I have a few reasons why I think cheating is okay in a single-player game or in an offline game.

When I’m stuck in a game for days and want to see the rest of the game, I think it’s fine to use a walkthrough. Would you consider using a walkthrough a cheat? Since I see no difference in friends sharing information on how to play/beat the game or reading about it online.

It’s a double-edged sword, to be honest since all secrets are revealed and such, but you don’t gain an unfair advantage. In my opinion, cheating is creating a scenario that gives the player an unfair advantage to beat the game. If you use a walkthrough, you just get helped to the finish line, but you still must perform the actions to be able to complete the walkthrough. It isn’t done for you.

Proper cheating is something like, giving permanent invincibility in a Mario game. Once a few years ago, I played together with my niece on New Super Mario Bros on the Wii. I enabled the invincibility cheat for her character but I never told her. She wasn’t too skilled in video games back then, but she learned the mechanics well. Nowadays, she plays the newest Mario games without that cheat and she enjoys them quite a lot. So, in those scenarios, I think using cheats is fine.

I also use cheats in games after I have beaten them. Just to get some more gameplay out of the game and something I like to do is try to break the game in various ways. In most cases, you can do that with cheating.

In addition to that, I have two save files in Europa Universalis IV. One where I play legit and one where I use cheats to do almost everything. The tricky thing about EU IV and cheating is, that when you don’t manage your country well enough, your country can split into two or more countries; and those new countries are as strong as you. So, that can give you other fun scenarios too.

Cheats can enhance the fun you have with a game. Sometimes, there are a few things hidden in a game that is only accessible by cheats. Caddicarus made an amazing video about his favorite cheats on the Sony PlayStation, check it out….

I think that cheating in an offline and single player game is perfectly fine. You might get less enjoyment out of the game because you used a cheat or two in the game, but sometimes it can have amazing results. You might find a secret or a bug in the game you didn’t know about.

For example, I learned a lot about how skyboxes work in Outlaws when I enabled the flying cheat. I only did this when I had beaten the game. I learned that the skybox isn’t that high up from the player.

So, if you don’t mind cheating in an offline game, what’s stopping you? Isn’t the experience you have with the game that counts in the end? Isn’t that the reason why most of us play games? To have a fun time or a fun hobby? I think cheating only becomes a problem when you try to do it online.

A Post by Guest Author – NekoJonez

Thank you, a lot, for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed me rambling about cheating in video games. My name is NekoJonez and I was invited to write this guest article for you guys. It was a very fun way of testing my writing skills. If you enjoy my writing and you want to read more, feel free to drop by on my blog: arpegi.wordpress.com. On my blog, I talk about my gaming journey. Each week, I write an article about the game(s) I have been playing or the opinions I have. I play retro, console, computer, Android … games so I’m sure there will be content that you will enjoy. In any case, thanks again for your read and until we meet again!

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